It’s cooooollllldddd outside!!!! But I’m not complaining. The frigid weather just gives me an excuse to make this warming and nourishing breakfast.
Speaking of nourishing, how about some chocolate fudge for breakfast? I can’t say it would be the healthiest choice, but, remarkably, some breakfast cereals pack more sugar into your bowl than a serving of chocolate fudge.
In fact, breakfast cereal can be one of the highest – and sneakiest – sources of sugar in your day. Most granola on the grocery store shelves contains as much sugar in one bowl as a Twinkie! A serving of Quaker Honey Nut Oats will load you up with more sugar than a Butterfinger bar.
And with Thanksgiving just a few days away, those annoying fat cells don’t need any sugar-boosts.
Fight Holiday Weight Gain Before the Holidays!
If you don’t want to gain weight over the holidays, what you need to do is eat a good breakfast. Well, ok, a few other strategies in your game plan may help as well, but research has shown that people who eat breakfast every day enjoy easier weight-loss and have more physical and mental energy throughout the day than those who don’t eat breakfast.
So, by including this simple, painless (compare it to working out for 3 hours) habit in your day, you may lessen your risk of gaining weight through the holidays and make it easier to get back on a healthy track once the holidays are over (if you got off track).
Oats and Their Whole-Grain Goodness
Not only have oats been shown to reduce cholesterol, help control blood glucose and insulin levels, reduce asthma risk in children, and boost the immune system, oats also have a fiber compound called beta-glucan which encourages your body to release hunger-suppressing hormones.
And dried apricots, fresh apples, and dried figs give this Harvest Oatmeal a flavorful sweetness without added sugar.
Harvest Oatmeal
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 to 2 servings
A delicious way to include more slimming whole grains in your diet.
Ingredients
2 3/4 cups almond milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup uncooked quick oats (use gluten-free oats if desired)
1 medium apple (about 1 1/3 cup diced apple)
7 dried apricots (or you can use sulfur-free dried apricots)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup – optional
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Place milk and salt in a medium saucepan.
- Stir in oats, cover, and begin heating over medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, cut the apple into small pieces and stir into oats.
- Cut apricots and figs into small pieces. (I cut the apricots into 4 pieces and the figs into 6 pieces.) Stir these into oatmeal when it comes to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent oats from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- When oatmeal is done, stir in walnuts, sweetener, and vanilla. Serve hot.
Notes
- Be sure to trims stems from figs before adding to oats.
- This recipe makes enough to serve 2 people if there are other foods served with it (like toast or fruit, etc.)
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Your comments make my day! 🙂
These bowls look so tasty and fresh! I love dried apricots.
Pinning!
Thanks Abbie. We love it!
My husband is not crazy about oatmeal but we love this dish!!! This is my way to get him to love oatmeal in the morning. Thanks for a delicious recipe!
That’s so good to hear, Margaret! My pleasure 🙂
Cool, this is an extremely healthy food choice for everyone.
Fresh fruit with oatmeal. Wow delicious! 🙂
How much serving size in your recipe? Thanks
Will make the oatmeal soon.
Hi Ann,
This recipe makes about 3 cups of cooked cereal.
Hope that helps.
Jennifer
Thank you, so the amount that i should cook for 1 serving on your recipe needs to divide by 3? I would like to lose weight but not sure the appropriate quantity.
Yes, you could do that.
As a weight loss consultant, I recommend that my clients not restrict serving sizes, but rather encourage them to eat (foods that are conducive to weight loss) until satisfied. This helps prevent cravings, low blood sugar, and low serotonin levels (which is associated with moodiness, irritability, anxiety, lack of concentration, chronic fatigue syndrome, cravings, binge eating, and weight gain.) and still provides weight loss.
You can read a little more about it in my FAQ if you are interested.
Best wishes to you,
Jennifer
Why quick oats? Why not rolled oats?
Hi Dusty,
Quick-cooking oats are rolled oats that are in smaller pieces. Nutritionally, they are just as good as regular rolled oats.
Because of their smaller size, quick-cooking oats take less time to cook that do regular rolled oats (which is why I chose to use them in this recipe).
Contrary to what is printed on the packages of oats, these grains actually take longer to fully cook than 1 to 5 minutes. And research shows that insufficiently cooked grains cannot be properly digested by the body and this can lead to a number of health problems (such as issues with adrenals and the thyroid).
Because of this research, I always recommend that people cook their grains sufficiently and avoid eating them uncooked.
I hope this helps.
Jennifer